This year the Bridport Prize Junior was a chance for Dorset's children and young people to show off their writing skills and win prizes for themselves and their school
They could write a short story on any subject they liked. Action, romance, adventure or mystery, it was up to them.
The closing date was 30th March 2007.
Here are the results of the competition.
1st prize
Casey Davies - Highcliffe Primary
Living Dead
2nd prize
Adrian Hobbs - Lytchett matravers primary
Adventure Island
3rd prize
Ben Carretta - Thornford School
Revenge
Runners up (in alphabetical order)
Eleanor Harding - Prairy Life - Thornford
Ross Hounslow - Tortooga - Thornford
Anya Loudon - The Journey on the Great Ocean - Burton Bradstock primary
Mylo Scott Reilly - Detectives Bones and the Case of the Missing Parrot - Milldown Primary
Acacia Rose Rudd - The Evil Strawberry - Symondsbury primary
1st prize
Ethne Grey Still - Beaminster Comp.
Tumbleweeds and Tuberoses
2nd Prize
Eloise MacDonald - school unknown
Rabbits, Cabbages, Heather and Love
3rd prize
Daniel Mason - Lockyers Middle
Argent's Story
Runners up
Heidi Brown - Me the Monkey - Bournemouth School for girls
Jack Richard Case - Sacrifice - Highcliffe School
Abi Colclough - Time Channel - Lytchett Minster school
James Green - The Golden Descent - Royal Manor Arts College
Emily Jago - Winter Wishes - St Marys, Shaftesbury
1st prize
Rosa Van Hensbergen - Colyton Grammar
Today is Winter
2nd prize
Joe Nava - Sir John Colfox
The Caretaker
3rd prize
Nippy Wallis - Canford School
The Dying of the Light
Runners up
Jade Emmons - The Orange Man - Parkstone Grammar
Camilla Mina Laake - Eson Cigam and the Extraordinary Dish - Queen Elizabeth Upper school
David Levesley - Wilde at Heart - Highcliffe School
Simon Middleton - Ghost of the Mine - Sir John Colfox
Zoe Wareham - Extraordinary happenings - Queen Elizabeth Upper school
Here is what the judge Laura Matthews said about the winning entries
I was delighted to be asked to judge the first Bridport Prize junior short story competition for two reasons. Firstly, because I felt the wider community needed to see how well young people write creatively and secondly, because I was sure I was in for some really enjoyable reading. However, I was not prepared to be quite so blown away by the overall quality of entries, making it a very tough task to sort out winners, places and runners-up. Writing a short story is notoriously difficult, and a few entrants wrote mini-novels instead. Some had a gripping or entertaining storyline; some showed amazing use of imagery and dexterity with language; others manipulated the reader skilfully. I was looking for those who showed all of these qualities, to some degree, which is a tall order - but many rose to the challenge, all the more impressive considering their ages.Winner: The Living Dead - Casey Davies
Fantastic, detailed, descriptive writing, believable dialogue, and a dark, terrifying, tale set convincingly in Venice. Dan Brown could take some lessons from this writer…
2nd Place: Adventure Island - Adrian Hobbs
I defy anyone with a pulse not to find this hilarious and exciting all in one - comedy can be far more difficult to write successfully than tragedy or horror, but the writer pulls it off. Wonderful dialogue and the most amazingly creative chain of events which manages to include highwaymen, pirates, zombies and even dinosaurs - not forgetting Portsmouth, home of all adventure!
3rd Place: Revenge - Ben Carretta
Mature, descriptive language in this tale of a young, orphaned magician, loyal creatures and a world which needs to be put to rights.
Runners-up: The Evil Strawberry - Acaia Rose Rudd Ridiculous tale of an evil strawberry from the school lunchbox, often hilarious and with an engagingly quirky narrator - using subtly sophisticated writing techniques to achieve its effects;
Detective Bones and the Case of the Missing Parrot - Mylo Scott Reilly Highly imaginative, very amusing, and again, mature use of language;
The Prairie Life - Eleanor Harding: Massively detailed and convincing slice-of- life narrative, set in the days of the pioneers in America;
The Journey over the Great Ocean - Anya Loudon Unusually brave setting in the early 1700s, in the form of the diary of a girl travelling with her mother, (Queen Anne's lady-in-waiting) and the rest of her family on a voyage from England to Spain which turns terrifying; well-tackled with realistic detail;
Tortooga-Ross Hounslow A proper, sit-round-the-fire-and-listen short story, imaginative and very amusing, involving a burger bar, rum, an island, and a trip in a lorry to take the Devil to Scotland…
Winner: Tumbleweeds and Tuberoses - Ethne Grey Still
Breathtakingly beautiful, sensitive writing; the maturity of the language as well as the fabric of the tale, would make it impossible for anyone to guess that the writer could be so young. Mary the botanist is trapped in a boring existing in a shabby florist's shop, surrounding by exotic plants from all over the world. Is she brave enough to venture into life? Detailed and believable -this writer is already a force to be reckoned with, what will she become in her twenties?!
2nd Place: Rabbits, Cabbages, Heather and Love - Eloise MacDonald
Again, incredibly mature characterisation and sensitive development in this tale of a little man, the son of a button-manufacturer, getting old, with a failed business behind him and very little to enjoy except bingo - a gently amusing story of finding unexpected love which rings true and belies the author's age.
3rd Place: Argent's Story - Daniel Mason
Imaginatively casting the first-person narrator as a journalist makes this a believable and skilfully written ghost story, with some fantastic descriptive writing.
Runners-up: Winter Wishes - Emily Jago: Realistic, detailed, touching tale of the loss of a family member with a warm ending;
Time Channel - Abi Colclough Very imaginative adventure tale with an exciting climax;
Sacrifice - Jack Richard Case Some of the best descriptive writing on offer, dark and gritty tale;
The Golden Descent - James Green Unusual and interesting juxtaposition of old-fashioned magical storytelling with the exploration of modern themes of family relationships;
Me the Monkey - Heidi Brown The writer challenges herself by writing from the unusual viewpoint of a young monkey and through cleverly detailed and convincing narrative, probes deeper issues of life and death.
Winner: Untitled (Today is Winter…) - Rosa Van Hensbergen
An exercise in displaying the perfection which can be achieved by the manipulation of the subtle nuances of the English language this tale conjures a deeply touching and vital moment in the lives of two people. Faultless - many writers would struggle and never come close to this level of skills.
2nd Place: The Caretaker - Joe Nava
Flawlessly inhabiting the terrifyingly logical world of a twisted killer, this story combines black humour, tragic irony and some beautiful symbolic imagery - and it's a real page-turner to boot. It's also the most sophisticated in its structure and deliberate manipulation of rhythm and pace by every means possible, to great effect.
3rd Place: The Dying of the Light - Nippy Wallis
True to the short story genre, this is a gripping tale of murder caught in a time-loop. The plot technique enables a thrilling climax and a thumping final line.
Runners-up: Ghost of the Mine - Simon Middleton Period-style language and convincingly detailed description and imagery helps create a suitably claustrophobic atmosphere in this ghost/horror story with a twist;
The Orange Man - Jade Emmons Another which holds true to the ideals of the short story genre, this is a beautifully descriptive tale of the touching relationship which develops between a poor girl and an old market trader, told with a confident, restrained narrative;
Wilde at Heart - David Levelsey Funny, mature writing with a clever technique involving the characters performing the Importance of Being Ernest as real life builds to echo the plot of the play. At least as good as an episode of E4's Skins, surely this skill would translate well to screen;
Eson Cigam and the Mysterious Dish - Camilla Mina Laoke Bizarre, amusing tale of a chef with a secret ingredient in his highly successful recipe. Great character description, this story is unusual in its subject and structure, which includes sections of poetry;
Extraordinary Happenings - Zoe Wareham Laugh-out-loud funny, highly imaginative tale of three teenage girls whose experimentation with a microwave leads them to a mysterious land. The device of an invasive narrator's voice aids the comic effect.